Where does the poop that is held back go? People who know the truth will never dare to hold it back again...

In real life, many people have had unforgettable and unforgettable experiences of holding back their poop. Many times, it is because the surrounding environment does not allow it, or there are always reasons for you to hold back your poop, such as traffic jams, meetings, and people being on the road...

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So you are forced to rely on your brain to give instructions, hold it in! So the darkest moment of crazy holding back poop begins. When you finally finish your work and have a chance to go to the bathroom again, you are planning to release it to your heart's content and welcome the highlight moment of satisfaction and relief, but something strange happens. After trying to squeeze for a long time, you find that no poop comes out, or after a hard struggle, only a few big and small pearls fall into the jade plate.

So the question is, where does the poop that is held back go?

Here, I suggest you not to read this article while eating, or go to the bathroom first and then come back to read this "smelly" article carefully. Today, let's discuss with you the origins of defecation.

01

How does the urge to defecate come about?

When the human body ingests food, it enters the body through the mouth, undergoes initial digestion by salivary amylase, and then enters the stomach through the esophagus.

The stomach is the place where food is stored and initially digested. The gastric acid and digestive enzymes in the stomach digest the food again and push the food into the small intestine through peristalsis.

The small intestine is the main organ for nutrient absorption. Nutrients such as glucose, fat, protein, etc. in food in the small intestine will be fully absorbed by the human body and transported to the whole body with the blood. The remaining food residues that are not absorbed and utilized will be transported by the intestines and enter the large intestine from the small intestine. The large intestine then absorbs water from the incoming food residues and concentrates, squeezes and shapes the food residues during peristalsis. Finally, feces are formed under the action of mucus secreted by the large intestine and intestinal bacteria. The feces are finally stored in the sigmoid colon.

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When food enters the small intestine again after we eat again, or when the feces in the colon reaches a certain threshold, the colon will have strong peristalsis to drive the feces to the rectum. When the rectum feels a certain pressure caused by the fullness of feces, it will stimulate and excite the pressure receptors on the rectal wall, generate effective nerve impulses, and send impulses to the low-level defecation center in the sacral segment of the spinal cord. Then the impulse signal is transmitted to the high-level center of the brain, which produces the urge to defecate.

02

Where does the urine that is held back go?

Under normal bowel movement conditions, a healthy person will defecate 1 to 3 times a day to 2 to 3 times a week.

To pull or not to pull? It all depends on the butler's brain to judge the situation:

If the environmental conditions permit at the time, and if your brain tells you that you can defecate, then the abdominal pressure will increase, the colon and rectum will contract vigorously, the internal anal sphincter will open, and the external anal sphincter will relax, and the feces will be squeezed out of the body through the anus; if your brain tells you that you cannot defecate, the external anal sphincter will contract as hard as it can, the sigmoid colon will become relaxed, and the held feces will be withdrawn from the rectum to the sigmoid colon for storage under the support of the intestines, and the urge to defecate will temporarily disappear.

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So, the poop that wasn't expelled returns to your intestines.

The water contained in the stool that is held back will be reabsorbed by the intestines, causing the stool to become smaller and harder. At the same time, the urge to defecate will gradually decrease or disappear, and it is easy to create a situation where "the stool is hard to come out no matter how hard you try."

03

What are the dangers of holding back bowel movements?

1. Increase the risk of tumors

Holding back stool for a long time is a burden to the intestines and anus. Because stool stays in the body for too long, it is easy to produce a large amount of harmful substances such as ammonia and hydrogen sulfide and microorganisms such as Escherichia coli, which will be absorbed by the sigmoid colon and rectum, which may cause damage to the mucosa and increase the risk of tumors. In the long run, the probability of constipation patients inducing colorectal cancer will greatly increase.

2. Increase cardiovascular and cerebrovascular risks

Dry and hard stools after holding back bowel movements can make defecation difficult, increase abdominal pressure, excite the sympathetic nerves, and cause high blood pressure. For elderly patients with cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, the risk of accidents increases, making them more likely to suffer from cardiogenic syncope and even life-threatening conditions.

3. Causes habitual constipation

Poor bowel habits and irregular bowel movements, if you often hold your stool for a long time, the stool will become dry and hard due to excessive water absorption, causing difficulty in defecation and forming habitual constipation.

4. Increase the risk of hemorrhoids, lower limb venous thrombosis , and lumbar disc herniation

Squatting in the toilet for too long will increase abdominal pressure, slow down blood circulation in the anus, and hinder venous return, which can easily cause varicose veins and congestion in the rectum. Over time, this situation will form hemorrhoids.

Squatting in the toilet for a long time will cause blood stasis in the lower limbs, which can easily cause swelling and numbness of the lower limbs, leading to insufficient blood supply to the brain, which in turn causes incomplete blood supply to the lower limbs, and even increases the risk of lower limb venous thrombosis and lumbar disc herniation.

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04

How to develop good bowel habits?

1. Actively adjust the diet structure, eat regularly, ensure balanced nutrition, do not be picky, do not eat too fine food, eat more foods rich in vitamins and crude fiber, avoid spicy, cold and greasy food. You can do appropriate physical exercise to improve gastrointestinal motility and help defecation. In addition, drinking more water in daily life is also helpful to prevent constipation.

2. In terms of lifestyle habits, it is best to develop a habit of regular bowel movements every day, preferably after getting up in the morning or some time after breakfast, because the peristalsis of the colon becomes slow at night, and after getting up and moving around in the morning, the gastrointestinal peristalsis speeds up, and the colon after breakfast will also produce a reflex due to the effect of food, which is beneficial to promote colon peristalsis. Defecation in the morning can effectively eliminate waste and garbage in the intestines, reduce the burden on the gastrointestinal tract, thereby improving the body's digestion and absorption function, promoting human metabolism, reducing damage to the intestines, and can effectively prevent constipation.

Therefore, having a bowel movement after getting up in the morning or some time after breakfast is beneficial to personal intestinal and physical health.

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3. You should concentrate every time you have a bowel movement, do not squat for too long, and avoid looking at your phone, reading books, newspapers, or playing games to pass the time. Squatting while playing is not only easy to distract your attention, but also will cause the bowel movement time to prolong, causing the urge to defecate to gradually disappear, resulting in difficulty in defecation and finally leading to constipation.

In short, holding your poop will make you feel uncomfortable and anxious, so remember that "poop when you have to poop" is not just empty talk. If you delay it, the consequences may be "weird".

Author: Li Tian, ​​Chief Physician, Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University

Review | Wang Qiang, deputy chief physician, Department of Gastroenterology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital

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